Mr. Mathews, I would not vote for an increase in taxes. I think that would be foolish. However, the current SPLOST referendum does not raise taxes. It continues the sales tax that we are already paying. It is not going up. On the other hand, if we don't pass it, taxes will have to go up to cover the cost of the bonds that will need to be issued. In addition, it would put Cobb County back in debt. Currently, we are one of the very few counties that has no debt. One last thing. If we continue the current SPLOST by voting for it, anyone who shops in Cobb County will be responsible for it. In other words, the burden is shared. Please think about.

On the other hand, if we do pass it, taxes will have to go up to cover the cost of operating and maintaining the new gymnasiums, theaters, and other facilities built by this SPLOST. There is too much waste in this particular proposal. It needs to be defeated, re-worked to a true list of needs, and then brought back before the voters during a general election.

it is not an increase, you are the the fool. It is the same plan that works, and doesn't cause raises in taxes or property or any other way than it has been for over 20 years. Read what you are speaking of before posting makes you educated & less foolish. If you plan to go vote & cast a ballot anytime in your lifetime. I suggest you the person voting read & educate yourself before casting your vote & not listening to a robo call or preacher, or neighbor. Get the information for yourself. This Yes vote allows Fixed income homeowners over 62 to remain to not have to pay the 40% of school taxes. If you had only known the facts you wouldn't seem uninformed & foolish- uneducated on this education bill. Learn facts before you speak.

Nothing to do with a child's education? My child is in a temporary building that was intended to last a few years and has been there over a decade. It is falling apart. During every tornado drill the 10 or so classes on that hall must evacuate to the concrete part of the school. New roofs, new schools are not what I call "zero to do with education." It's your choice to send your child to private school - but you should not turn your back on the schools the community provides. STRONG EDUCATION BENEFITS EVERYONE.

You do that & best of luck, it is not an increase, you are the the fool. It is the same plan that works, and doesn't cause raises in taxes or property or any other way than it has been for over 20 years. Read what you are speaking of before posting makes you educated & less foolish. If you plan to go vote & cast a ballot anytime in your lifetime. I suggest you the person voting read & educate yourself before casting your vote & not listening to a robo call or preacher, or neighbor. Get the information for yourself. This Yes vote allows Fixed income homeowners over 62 to remain to not have to pay the 40% of school taxes. If you had only known the facts you wouldn't seem uninformed & foolish- uneducated on this education bill. Learn facts before you speak.

I think your comment, Mr. Gruen, provides a powerful argument for supporting education.

I invite you to go to Walton High School, the #1 public high school in Georgia. It is deemed to be demolished because it is in such poor condition that it needs to be replaced, there is no way to fix it. Only as the #1 school. No one on the School Board had even bothered to see the school as needing anything. Go see it for yourself. Then you will retract your uninformed opinion. Be informed before you speak your mind. Just opinionated speaks volumes of your inadequate knowledge.

I appreciate your well thought out response, however I have lived in Cobb County for four decades and history usually repeats itself. There will be a property tax increase in the near future. You can take that to the bank.

Read the list and let me know what on that list seems geared toward educating kids and what doesn't.

Thank you in advance for your wife offering to take extra furlough days. After all, that's what it's going to take to operate and maintain the new gymnasiums and theaters in this SPLOST. That's right, the SPLOST only builds the facilities - it doesn't cover the day to day heating, cooling, lighting, staffing, etc. Those items come out of the same budget as your wife's salary. (The same budget already facing a $70 to $80 million deficit that the school board already is having trouble figuring out how to overcome.)

Many of the projects improve the efficiency of the schools to reduce cost. This will help reduce the cost of heating and cooling. I agree, there should be more money going towards paying good teachers and provide educational resources towards educating the kids. I do know that improved facilies does help and attrach people to our county. High demand to move into Cobb county and lower supply of houses drives house values up and also increase property values which also increase tax revenue for each city and county. Thoughts?

I absolutely agree that some of the projects look a little ridiculous on the surface. Some of them should be given the lowest of the low priority. However, in researching a few of the issues, one of the concerns is accessibility to those who are disabled. Concession stands, for example. Definitely would be at the bottom of my priority list. However, if somebody sues because of lack of accessibility, then that would be very costly and we would still have to fix it. David Staples has made some excellent points about priorities and the order of the list. Leo Smith has done the same. The sad part of this is that people are concerned about East Cobb getting the projects and West and South Cobb being left behind. East Cobb has been very vocal about maintaining the SPLOST. There seems to be more support for it there. West and South Cobb have been either relatively quiet or against it. I still think that one way or another we are going to pay for this. Repairs have to be done. Buildings have to be replaced due to age or lack of infrastructure to keep up with technology and education. I'd rather share the burden with people from other counties than pay it all here in Cobb. I will tell you this. After this is done, if people try to raise taxes, I will be at the front of the line protesting. Maintain what is in place, I get it and don't have to like it. I understand the logic. Raise taxes beyond that...no way!

As the housing market values improve, as they have always done, our assessed value will go back up and our property taxes will increase. I say that alone will more than offset the loss of the 1% sales tax. I vote NO.

"Taxes never go away once voted in." Such blanket statements are wrong and misleading... What about the Bush tax cuts that were extended again and again? Remember the "fiscal cliff" at the beginning of the year that CONTINUED the tax cuts? What about the toll on GA-400 that will soon be ending at the end of this year? Some taxes END at the end of their useful purpose. WIth SPLOST, we are replacing schools, replacing temporary buildings of schools - creating theatres - this is a continuation of USEFUL PURPOSE. Strong education benefits EVERYONE.

"If spending appears disproportionate to anyone, perhaps it is because there are more aging schools in East Cobb. My child's school was built in 1970."

What's wrong with a school built in 1970? My house was built in 1957. Should I tear it down and rebuild it just because of its age? The White House was built in the late 1700's. Should we tear it down and rebuild it as well?

There is no drivers ed program in east cobb schools. check ti out.City of Marietta & Cobb schools are different.

There is one high school in the city. Over $100,000 per year. The teacher's salary should not come out of this fund. You can get a new car for $15,000 or less. I don't know how much insurance would cost for this type of situation, but let's say $1,000 a year. Gas would add some to that. Are they going to buy new cars every year? I'm sorry, but I still don't understand.

Grow up & become more educated & less Opinionated. Why don't you actually go and see all the schools & determine if you actually know what you are speaking of. Go see the school & compare instead of complaining grow up and actually see what you are complaining about. CHEAP & Uninformed = ignorant

For your information Priscilla, I am a commercial electrician for 36 years of my career whom have built 12 Cobb county school and know only first hand the non-sense the commission is trying to hand the public on projects like Pebblebrook high school and other school renovations!

Thanks Melinda,
Now they have opened a can of worms with no accountability for the next 5 years.

Without SPLOST, Cobb would be in much worse shape than we are now. Vote yes. I hate taxes but this one is doing great things. Thanks for your vote either way.

it is not an increase, you are the the fool. It is the same plan that works, and doesn't cause raises in taxes or property or any other way than it has been for over 20 years. Read what you are speaking of before posting makes you educated & less foolish. If you plan to go vote & cast a ballot anytime in your lifetime. I suggest you the person voting read & educate yourself before casting your vote & not listening to a robo call or preacher, or neighbor. Get the information for yourself. This Yes vote allows Fixed income homeowners over 62 to remain to not have to pay the 40% of school taxes. If you had only known the facts you wouldn't seem uninformed & foolish- uneducated on this education bill. Learn facts before you speak. You don't even know what is needed or necessary how on earth could anyone think you could even form an opinion except negative & complaining. this has worked for 20+ years & there is no debt, it works . Your small mind doesn't

They claim they are in 79 million dollar deficit for this year! Where is all the money gone or went to?

"or replacing schools or parts of schools that are literally falling down or 30+ years old."

What's wrong with 30+ year old buildings? My house was built in 1957. (That's roughly 56 years ago for the math deficient.) Should I tear it down and rebuild it just because of its age? The White House was built in the late 1700s. I guess it's long overdue to be torn down and rebuilt? What about the gold dome downtown? If 30 years is the maximum lifespan of a building, we've got a lot of re-building to do.

I've never said we shouldn't improve or renovate schools. But the comments I referenced said "replacing schools". In other words, tear down, build new.

Thanks for the clarification Mr. Staples. The problem is, SPLOST 4 projects will both renovate and improve existing schools AND replace a few schools.

I am not in the construction business, but I do know that sometimes replacing makes more sense than renovations, regardless of the age of the structure. Various issues at the old East Side Elementary made replacing the school the best option. On the other hand, Wheeler High School, an older school, is currently undergoing a major renovation. And Sope Creek Elementary, 43 years old, just had an addition completed last year. There are no plans to replace Sope Creek and I am pleased with the structure and learning environment there other than the current gym that is inadequate for a school with 1000 students.

So we differ in our views. I am unwilling to object to a few new structures (that have been deemed necessary by those in charge of the project list) because a no vote today will prevent much needed renovations and improvements at so many other schools in our county. I personally believe if there were a feasible way to renovate Walton High School to address the needs there (such as 300 student overcapacity that I read in a recent article) or renovate Osborne High School, then that would happen. It's already happening at Wheeler.

"Do the math. A school built in 1970 as I mentioned is not 30+ years old. It's 43 years old."

Yes, a school built in 1970 is 30+ years old. The + means or greater than. 43 > 30.

I agree that there are some good projects in the SPLOST. But I don't think they do enough to improve education. That's my main concern. If we're going to call it an education SPLOST, it should be entirely about education. Otherwise, we should name it an Education, Sports, and Recreation SPLOST.

Fed Up - the article says nothing about "Completely rebuilt". As in, tear down, rebuild. It says major renovations.

David, splitting hairs much? The president MOVED OUT of the oval office so that there can be extensive renovations, and these renovations were necessary because of the piecemeal patchwork type of updates that had occurred through the years. I'm sure due to security the press isn't reporting EXACTLY what is happening, but the fact that the president went so far as to move out, and undergo the expense of having a replica oval office created just so the current oval office is renovated speaks volumes. We were just there in January, and the visitor center *IS* being "rebuilt" (completely torn down and new building created) and it was conveyed to us that the same thing was happening to the West wing in 2013. (I would imagine there would be a number of safety bunkers installed, perhaps even an extensive underground system, etc. - of course the press wouldn't be reporting on THAT. You referenced the White House as an historic building that was standing without being rebuilt and I pulled the article as a demonstration that your logic was flawed - - The west wing *is* being rebuilt. Even old things need to be changed/updated/renovated and upgraded to keep with the times. That applies to schools as well as the oval office.

This is what SPLOST money did for Sope Creek just last year. Tell me where the waste was...

From an article in East Cobber May 27, 2012: "As part of a school-wide makeover, the walls will be painted beige. Other upgrades in the project include a 12-classroom addition, kitchen modifications, roof work, new gym floors, HVAC upgrades, a sprinkler system and emergency generators. The $3.4 million project will be paid for by SPLOST III funds and will be handled by A.M. Adams Corporation of Lilburn."

For the record, I am not certain the new gym floors have been done. But the third grade hall was a much needed addition to get rid of the portable buildings that housed so many classrooms for many years. Thank you SPLOST 3!!!

Susan - previous SPLOSTs do not equate to current SPLOSTs. They're totally different project lists. If you want to vote on the previous SPLOST again, fine. I'll go ahead and concede that there have been some worthwhile projects done with SPLOST money. However, let's look at Allatoona High School. It was built 5 years ago, right? Why do they already need to resurface the tennis courts and replace carpet with tile? That's in addition to band instruments, athletic field electrical projects and concession stand projects. (Which some would say are not even legally allowed to be paid for using sales tax dollars, as their primary purpose is related to athletic competitions.)

Mr. Staples: My comment was not directed to you. I was sharing a real example of something good done with previous SPLOST funds to remove portable buildings since Ms. Paris mentioned the removal of annex buildings in her comment.

Maybe all portable buildings in the county haven't been removed yet, but after waiting many years, THE PORTABLE BUILDINGS AT SOPE CREEK ELEMENTARY WERE FINALLY REMOVED WITH SPLOST MONEY. I do not have direct knowledge of other schools that my children do not attend otherwise I might have shared more information.

To say the good that came from prior SPLOST expenditures is irrelevant to today's vote is inaccurate. SPLOST 4 isn't perfect. I never said it was. But GOOD THINGS DO HAPPEN WITH SPLOST MONEY WHETHER IT IS SPLOST 1, 2, 3 or 4 - and the overall outcome is good for our students, our property values and our county. That was the point of my comment.

You and other SPLOST opponents can nitpick individual line items all you want, but GOOD THINGS DO HAPPEN WITH SPLOST MONEY.

Mr. Staples - You have made some excellent points regarding priorities and order of items on the list. However, even a school built 5 years ago will have upkeep and maintenance issues. If you think about the amount of foot traffic that occurs daily and then look at it over 5 years, the wear and tear on the carpet would be very significant. It is my understanding that the move to tile will be to extend the lifetime of the flooring with less maintenance and wear and tear. As far as the concession stands are concerned, it is my understanding that the only reason they are on the list is because of the need to make sure that they are accessible under ADA regulations. I want to point out that this is my understanding. I cannot cite the specifics and provide a reference. On the other hand, if Cobb County was sued for lack of accessibility under ADA, the cost could be phenomenal and they still would have to fix it. Overall, I am hoping that SPLOST passes and that those in favor of it and those against it, can join forces to effect change in the priorities and in how the money is used. FACE It-Cobb will lobby Cobb's and the State of Georgia's Legislators for flexibility with the SPLOST funds. We will lobby for a percentage that can be used for operational expenses and other programming needs.

@ David Schwartz - you make a good point about the carpet perhaps not being able to withstand the traffic, but that brings us to the question of why would they install carpet in the first place if it can't hold up to the traffic counts inevitable at a school? Shouldn't they have installed tile in the first place?

Mr. Staples - the answer to your question is YES! They should have installed tile to begin with.

@ David Schwartz - Looking at the SPLOST IV project list, it appears there is new carpet to be installed at Campbell Middle School, Clay Elementary School, Griffin Middle School, Lost Mountain Middle School, Norton Park Elementary School, Pebblebrook High School, Russell Elemtary School, and South Cobb High School. Are we going to have to replace that with tile in SPLOST V?

@David Staples - This is one of those things that I don't get. I don't know why they are installing carpet. As I said before, there are some things that would high priority and some that would be low. Carpet to replace tile is low on my list. On the other hand, if they are replacing carpet with carpet, I hope whoever sold them the carpet gives them a long wear and tear warranty!

To further add to the carpet vs. tile debate that is a relatively minor part of Ed-SPLOST...

Maybe the funds weren't there to put tile in the first time? Ever had a new home? Sometimes concessions are made in the beginning. Who knows?

As for replacing carpet with carpet instead of more durable tile, the school library would be an excellent place to have carpet, even if all other school flooring surfaces are tile. And I know there are specific carpet areas in classrooms for elementary school students to leave their desks and sit on the floor around their teacher for various activities during the day - story time, various lessons or group work, etc. Perhaps some of those carpets are on the list to replace? In an elementary school setting, this kind of learning is invaluable and just not the same as when all students sit at their desks. It's a great way to get students interested and participating in a discussion. It's a good example of an exception to tile or hard surface flooring that makes sense to me.

Just sharing some thoughts I had as I read through the previous comments. Don't know all the reasons for why certain decisions are made for our schools, but not all seemingly wasteful expenses are necessarily as bad as they initially seem. Sometimes there are actually good reasons for them.

Melinda - We've been sending our kids to Cobb county schools for 6 years and they go to one of the schools with the annex that is scheduled to be replaced with this SPLOST. I'm not sure why you are saying that the prior SPLOSTS were all lies; to my knowledge the SPLOST projects are always listed in advance as a commitment and they have always been completed. This is the first SPLOST that has specifically mentioned that the temporary annex of our school will be replaced. In prior SPLOST years, we had different walkways enclosed, had the playground completely replaced and fenced in (no fence around a playground before - scary!) we even had HVAC system installed in our non-air conditioned gym. Although replacing the temporary annex of our building was a badly needed project, it took a second place seat to other projects of higher priority. The point of this SPLOST is to continue moving FORWARD with school improvement, which has steadily and continuously happened. Since we have been at Cobb, we have seen every classroom converted to a "21st century" classroom with ActivBoards and ELMOs, increased communication, re-roofing and carpeting, as well as the changes I mentioned above. Our children have directly benefitted due to SPLOST. Voting NO on SPLOST is a step backwards for our schools and for our children.

No problem. Most people just want to disagree with me automatically. And Osborne was a cool high school at the time. I don't think we had anywhere near the social pressure back then that the kids have today. Except for a couple of "rich" girls, everybody was nice to everybody else. And I can't honestly remember which schools actually had air conditioning. I went to Milford Elementary, Smyrna Elementary, Nash Junior High, Floyd Junior High and Osborne (my parents liked to move). I don't remember being hot, but then back in the 1950's and 1960's, not everybody had air conditioning anyway. My, how things have changed.

Hi David, How do we get more involved with the stated above? I competely agree that SPLOST should be used for paying good teacher's salaries and help reduce class sizes once again. Hiring new teachers has been very minimal over the last few years and pay cuts have been frequent. This needs to change.

You can start by going to the Funding Awareness Campaign for Education (FACE It-Cobb! Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/FaceItCobb). We will be posting our activities through there. In addition, we want to coordinate with folks in West and South Cobb to make sure there is a loud voice and a strong presence for everyone. If you go to the Facebook page and Like it, you will get notifications on everything we are trying to do.

The current legislative session will end this week. There may be a special session during the summer to deal with the budget for Georgia, but that is all the Legislature will deal with. We have until the start of the next session to organize, hone our message, and lobby our legislators. If we are lucky, maybe one or more of them would be willing to pre-file a bill that can be considered as soon as the Legislature reconvenes. There will be much more to come. Thanks for your interest!

responds to David Schwartz as follows: Please see my comments in response to the recent SouthCobbPatch.com article about the proposal for a 5-day Cobb Teacher Furlough. No amount of money from either Ed-SPLOST or increased property taxes is going to address increasing healthcare costs of teachers/staff of CCSD so lets http://HeartMDPhD.com/BeSmart as will be presented at Emory's http://GHHS2o13.org Global Health and Humanitarian Summit.

PriscillaD - I've been ignoring your comments due to their vitriolic nature, but since you've called me out specifically, I'll respond. You obviously haven't taken the time to do any research before calling me out. I've been working with the Cobb Taxpayers Association and the Georgia Tea Party in trying to defeat this particular proposal so that it could be re-worked and then voted on in a general election. I've met with the superintendent and several of the school board members and talked with them separately on various occasions over the past few months. If you think I'm uneducated about schools, you're sadly mistaken.

Name calling solves just as many problems as building a new gymnasium and theater enhances the learning abilities of our students. Reading your posts, I can only assume you went to a school that put more emphasis on sports and recreation than on math and English. Perhaps we could approach the school board about letting you sit in on some classes? ;-)

Looking forward to working with you David Schwartz. Together we can create better legislation for local education funding. Fund the Educators 1st. LIKE the developing FACEBOOK effort at https://www.facebook.com/EducationFundingPetition
-Fund Learning Objectives over Buildings
-Engage Citizens with a November Ballot on SPLOST Votes
-Prioritize Projects Based on Community Needs
-Hold the System Accountable for Wasteful Spending and Mis-managed Project Timelines
-Address the Achievement Gap with Targeted Solutions